BET to launch cable channel aimed at middle-aged African Americans

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Call it the Obama effect or the Tyler Perry factor.

Is the hottest niche audience middle-aged African Americans? Viacom Inc. is betting yes as its Black Entertainment Television Group is launching Centric, a cable channel aimed at that demographic.

In making the announcement, BET Chief Executive Debra Lee said that because of the ‘historic change our country has experienced, this is the perfect time for BET Networks to reexamine where we are as a company and what we can be for our audience.’

Of course, another factor might be TV One, the network already targeting that audience and majority owned by cable giant Comcast Corp. and Radio One that reaches almost 50 million homes. Time Warner’s TBS has also grabbed a big chunk of that audience with its Tyler Perry shows ‘House of Payne’ and ‘Meet the Browns.’

TV One, not surprisingly, said Centric was validation of its strategy.

‘We’ve always said that the African American viewing community is so large and diverse that there is probably room for three or four cable channels in the space. I guess they were just waiting for us to prove the case,’ said TV One CEO Johnathan Rodgers.

BET said it expects to launch Centric in the fourth quarter in about 45 million homes. That is an ambitious number, and to get there BET will likely shutter its jazz channel BET J and replace it with Centric, although the Washington, D.C.-based company would not confirm that was the plan.

-- Joe Flint